DearColleague.us

Letter

From the office of:

Josh Harder

Be an Original Cosponsor of Reps. Harder and Fitzpatrick’s Bipartisan House Companion to S. 3556

Deadline: Wednesday, 4/8, 12:00 PM

Current Originals: Harder, Fitzpatrick, Suozzi, Panetta, Cox

Dear Colleague,

Representatives Harder and Fitzpatrick invite you to become an original cosponsor of their bipartisan House companion to Senator Romney’s S. 3556, the COVID-19 Graduate Relief Act.

This bill would provide relief for college students graduating in 2020, allowing them to defer their student loan payments for up to 3 years. It also allows the Secretary of Education to extend eligibility for this deferment to people who graduate in 2021
or 2022.

Students graduating this year will miss classes, labs, senior week, and commencement. More critically, they’ll be graduating into a job market that’s still reeling from the impact of COVID-19. This is a common-sense policy that gives students the time they
need to get on their feet in light of the significant hurdles they are and will continue to face as they entering the workforce.

The Department of Education recently announced that students could suspend their student loans without interest for 60 days, and the CARES Act automatically suspended them through September 30th. These were promising first steps, and now it’s time to consider
the farther-reaching effects of the Coronavirus crisis. If we are to have a strong recovery, we have to make sure that our graduates are in a good position to go out and build their lives.